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List of inaccuracies in Zoo Tycoon
This is a list of features of the animals in the Zoo Tycoon series that do not agree with science and are not zoologically accurate. General *Many of the animals are inaccurately sized, often being larger or smaller than they would naturally be. In some cases certain animals are larger than animals they would be smaller than in real life. *Various animal lifespans are inaccurate. *Multiple animals perfectly capable of swimming if the need arises in real life are unable to in these games. *Many animals that are capable of interbreeding in real life cannot do so in the games. Zoo Tycoon (2001) *Both the Greater Flamingo and Giant Anteater are fed hay, when in reality they would eat shrimp and insects, respectively. *Ostriches do not display sexual dimorphism, and as a result both the males and females look identical. *Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Kentrosaurus and Ankylosaurus are thought to have been able to kill large theropods such as Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus. In the game, they are portrayed as being weaker and can easily be killed by the large carnivores. *Large packs of small carnivores are able to kill one larger carnivore. In the game, the larger carnivores will usually eat the smaller ones regardless of how many there are. *Large herds of herbivorous dinosaurs could kill a large predator, but in the game, the predator will eat the herbivores regardless of how many there are. *Woolly mammoths, giant ground sloths and woolly rhinos are thought to have been able to kill saber-toothed cats in real life, but in the game the saber-toothed cats will eat them. *''Caudipteryx'' is stated to live in the Jurassic Period, when it actually lived in the early Cretaceous period. *The factfiles of Tyrannosaurus rex, Apatosaurus and Stegosaurus state that the former is a natural predator of the latter two. This would have been impossible as Tyrannosaurus lived during the Cretaceous period, whilst Apatosaurus and Stegosaurus were both Jurassic dinosaurs. *Most Theropod dinosaurs are shown with an upright stance and pronated hands, both of which were impossible for the real animals. *''Velociraptor'' is portrayed as living in coniferous forests. In reality it was a desert-dwelling animal. *Meiolania was almost certainly not a tundra animal. *Several of the dinosaurs are depicted as living in habitats that would have been impossible for them to live in, such as deciduous forests and grasslands. *Green sea turtles can’t go on land in game, but can in real life. *Emperor penguins are able to kill many animals they can’t kill in real life. The only in-game animal that they are able to kill in real life is the bluefin tuna. *Plesiosaurs in the game are depicted as being able to raise their necks high above the water and move around on land, but in real life they could do neither. Also, in the game they lay eggs, but they are thought to have given live birth in real life. *All animals (except the dinosaurs) appear to give live birth, regardless of species, even if they lay eggs in real life. Zoo Tycoon 2 *Red pandas aren't bears (as stated in Zoopedia), and they are only distantly related to the Giant panda, which is a bear. They share the name "panda" because of their diet, bamboo. Red pandas are more closely related to raccoons then bears. *Ratels are generally weaker than they are in real life. In-game ratels can be killed by most other predators in the game, whearas real ratels are sometimes known to kill buffalo. *The horns of female bongos are too long. *''Stegosaurus'', Triceratops, Kentrosaurus and Ankylosaurus are portrayed as being weaker than the large carnivores. However, in real life these dinosaurs could easily take down many animals that are commonly percieved as "more dangerous" than them. *All the larger meat-eating dinosaurs in the game are equally powerful, meaning that Carnotaurus and Stokesosaurus are just as powerful as T. rex, and even have the ability to kill him if they are angry or hungry enough. In reality, Carnotaurus and especially Stokesosaurus, while certainly fearsome predators in their own right, were not nearly as strong as Tyrannosaurus. *The dromaeosaurids and other dinosaurs are all scantily feathered, and have broken hands. In particular, all three lack wings on their arms. *The female okapi should not have horns. *''Protarchaeopteryx'' is portrayed as a carnivore which can bring down a Kentrosaurus. *''Protarchaeopteryx'' can fly in the game. *''Carnotaurus's arms are too long. In real life they were nearly vestigial. *The ''Carnotaurus in the game lacks osteoderms, which it would've had in real life *''Megatherium'' is portrayed as fully bipedal, when it should be partly bipedal and mostly quadrupedal. *The majority of the theropod dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus and Carnotaurus, have an incorrect posture, standing semi-upright in a way that would not be physically possible for them. *The Zoopedia lists the greater flamingo's scientific name as Phoenicopterus ruber, instead of the proper Phoenicopterus roseus. *The musk ox has a very long tail in the game, while in real life their tail length is only 10 cm long. *The Zoopedia entries for Styracosaurus and Triceratops state that the latter evolved from the former, and that they were both preyed upon by T. rex and Carnotaurus. Though Styracosaurus is a relative of Triceratops, the two dinosaurs are from different subfamilies, and are thusly not direct relatives; and while Triceratops was indeed contemporary with Tyrannosaurus, Carnotaurus lived on an entirely different continent. Styracosaurus did not live with either theropod. *Pandas aren't fully herbivorous, they have been known to eat small animals and carcasses. While they may be mainly herbivores, they aren't fully. *The ring-tailed lemur is treated as a strict herbivore even though its real-life diet also includes insects and occasionally small vertebrates. *Meerkats are capable of preying on animals as large as a red panda in the game. They do not hunt such large prey (in groups or by themselves) in real life. *''Deinosuchus'' is portrayed as being covered in spikes, having a much more slender skull than their real-life counterparts, and living in rainforests. In reality, Deinosuchus was a saltwater animal that lived along the relatively temperate coast of the American Interior Seaway, although this can be attributed to the fact that Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals on its own does not feature an option for coastal biomes. *''Ankylosaurus'' is shown as far more extensively-armored than its real-life counterpart. *''Kentrosaurus'' is shown as having spines on its hips, rather than its shoulders as in real life, and its plates are far too large. *''Megatherium'' is portrayed as omnivorous in-game, having meat and fish among the food on its Zookeeper Recommendations. While it’s possible that the giant sloth nibbled on a bit of meat occasionally as many plant-eaters living today are known to do, it was still probably had a herbivorous diet the majority of the time and depicting it as an outright omnivore seems a bit of a stretch. Zoo Tycoon (2013) *The two-toed sloths are made from the same model as the three-toed sloths and as a result feature a flattened face as opposed to the longer snout. *The model for the Giant Anteater, Northern Tamandua and Southern Tamandua is shared. As a result, the Giant Anteater is undersized and the two tamandua species are portrayed as terrestrial, when they would be arboreal in reality. *The Pronghorn is listed as an antelope despite being completely unrelated (although this is addressed in Zoopedia). *Both the Nine-Banded Armadillo and Screaming Hairy Armadillo are shown to roll up into a ball, which is inaccurate for both species. Despite popular belief, only the two species of Three-Banded Armadillo are capable of doing this. Category:Lists